The London Court of International Arbitration asked Tata Sons to pay the damages for breach of joint venture agreement.

An international arbitration panel has ordered Tata Sons to buy the stake of Japan's telecom firm NTT Docomo at $1.2 billion in the joint venture. Docomo had entered India in 2009 and after a five-year struggle in the domestic market the telecom firm decided to exit the country.

In 2014, NTT Docomo wanted to sell its 26.5 percent stake in debt-ridden Tata Teleservices in a bid to wind up its India operations. However, in January 2015, the telecom firm, which is a unit of Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, filed a plea in the London Court of International Arbitration against Tata Sons after Tata Sons apparently failed to find a buyer, the Mint reported.

In its plea, Docomo claimed that Tata Sons failed to fulfil its obligation to find a new buyer for Docomo's stake in Tata Teleservices.

According to the claims made by Docomo, it held the right to request Tata Sons to find it a buyer for its stake sale, Reuters reported. Tata was unsuccessful in finding a buyer. India's central bank refused Tata's offer to buy the stake citing a change in rule which prevented foreign investors from selling stakes in Indian firms at pre-determined prices.

In a statement, the Japanese regulator said the damages were a reward for Tata Sons breaching their shareholders agreement, the news agency added.